ABBOTSFORD, B.C. — New Democrat Leader Adrian Dix is promising to freeze fares at BC Ferries while his government conducts an audit into the company that he says is off course.

Dix says the high cost of using BC Ferries is hurting businesses and families on Vancouver Island and coastal British Columbia.

The announcement, made Wednesday at a campaign stop in the Fraser Valley, is one of a series of NDP planks being released over the next week that will make up the party’s election platform.

Dix also announced an NDP government would invest $226 million over the next three years establishing a grants program for students, improving completion rates for apprentices and supporting arts and culture across the province.

His proposed plan to build a sustainable economy and create new jobs strategy was made in Liberal Finance Minister Mike de Jong’s Abbotsford riding.

Debra Brash / Postmedia News files The New Democrats have consistently said while in Opposition that BC Ferries should be part of the provincial highways system, making ferry infrastructure development costs part of the government’s overall budget.

The ferry fare freeze and audit plan would cost $40 million over two years, he said, adding the NDP would “position BC Ferries as an integral part of B.C.’s transportation infrastructure.”

The New Democrats have consistently said while in Opposition that BC Ferries should be part of the provincial highways system, making ferry infrastructure development costs part of the government’s overall budget.

Dix said the time has arrived for a complete review of BC Ferries.

“We’ve reached a serious level of impact on the economy of Vancouver Island, the economy of the coast and the pocket books of people,” he said.

He also said students could receive grants up to a maximum of $1,500 — the equivalent of about three courses — depending on income, a program that would be funded through the NDP’s proposed tax on banks.

Liquor laws would also come under review if the NDP wins the provincial election, Dix promised.

Road access was restored to an RV park in the southeastern B.C. resort community of Fairmont Hot Springs on Monday after nearly 500 people were trapped in the park overnight following a landslide.

On Sunday, the slide sent boulders, trees and mud spilling through the centre of the town, which is located northeast of Cranbrook. No one was hurt, but visitors were trapped in the park after a bridge washed out.

Four properties were damaged and most of the main lodge’s 400 guests had left while a damage assessment was underway on Monday, said resort spokesman Marke Dickson.

“The people were the most important thing, the people have been taken care of,” Mr. Dickson said.

Related

One witness said he expected cleanup efforts to last a long time, after watching the water fling boulders like marbles.

“Nobody knew it was coming. All the people heard was a loud bang and then the roar of the body of water that came gushing down the canyon,” said Doug Clovechok. “It’s truly a miracle no one was killed.”

The landslide occurred mere days after an initial mudslide in nearby Johnsons Landing, where four people are presumed dead.

THE CANADIAN RESS/ho-Sarah JenkinsValentine Webber is shown with his daughter Rachel Webber in an undated photo. The two are among four people missing in a landslide in the tiny community of Johnson's Landing, B.C.

At least three homes were crushed by massive stream of mud and debris. Rescue crews found the body of one man Sunday. The RCMP and the B.C. Coroners Service confirmed Monday afternoon the remains of a second person had been located.

The person’s identity was not released. The search for two others is now considered a recovery operation.

Police have identified the missing as 17-year-old and 22-year-old sisters Rachel and Diana Webber, their 60-year-old father Valentine John Webber, and 64-year-old Petra Frehse, a German national.

“Throughout the week there has been reference to two possible locations for the remains. The search and rescue effort was concentrating on one residence that was identified as having the highest probability of finding the remains of the four individuals,” Cpl. Dan Moskaluk of the RCMP said of the search effort.

National Post, with files from The Canadian Press and Postmedia News

]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/stranded-campers-freed-after-second-b-c-landslide-washed-out-road-to-rv-park/feed12stdTwo girls walk past a mud covered fairway on Mountainside Golf Course in Fairmont, British Columbia on Monday, July 16, 2012. A nearby road was washed away by the mudslide Sunday, stranding an estimated 500 people in the Fairmont Hot Springs Resort RV Park.Valentine Webber is shown with his daughter Rachel Webber in an undated photo. The two are among four people missing in a landslide in the tiny community of Johnson's Landing, B.C. Second B.C. landslide cuts off 500 campers just 45 kilometres from fatal incident at Johnsons Landinghttp://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/second-b-c-landslide-cuts-off-300-campers-just-45-kilometres-from-fatal-incident-at-johnsons-landing
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/second-b-c-landslide-cuts-off-300-campers-just-45-kilometres-from-fatal-incident-at-johnsons-landing#commentsMon, 16 Jul 2012 16:07:19 +0000http://news.nationalpost.com/?p=194475

A second landslide in British Columbia, about 45 kilometres east of Johnsons Landing where four people are presumed dead following Thursday’s mudslide, has cut off about 500 people at an RV park.

The landslide occurred at about 4:30 p.m. Sunday in Fairmont Hot Springs in southeastern B.C. Police say no one is believed to be injured or to be missing.

However, the mudslide washed out the road to a local RV park, leaving campers stranded. Parts of Highway 93/95 were closed, but have since re-opened.

One person had to be airlifted via helicopter due to the slide.

The mudslide forced the evacuation of the Fairmont Mountainside Vacation Villas resort, along with four homes, and heavily damaged a local golf course.

“There’s never been an event like this in the history of Fairmont Hot Springs Resort, so no one had local knowledge, but there was this awareness,” spokesperson Marke Dickson told Postmedia.

Work on fixing the road to the RV camp began Sunday evening. Those trapped at the camp have food and water.

“It’s rugged camping that’s for sure,” Dickson said. “Fortunately we had some employees trapped on the RV park side and an off-duty RCMP officer.”

Emergency Info BCAerial shot of a mudslide that occurred in the resort community of Fairmont Hot Springs Sunday.

At least three homes were crushed by massive stream of mud and debris Thursday in Johnsons Landing. Rescue crews found the body of one man Sunday and said the search for three missing women was now being considered a recovery operation.

“As a result of the excavation and the work conducted…the remains of one male were recovered today from that site,” RCMP Cpl. Dan Moskaluk told The Canadian Press Sunday evening.

“The remains were found late this afternoon following a rapid and expansive disaster response.”

Related

Police have identified the missing as 17-year-old and 22-year-old sisters Rachel and Diana Webber, their 60-year-old father Valentine John Webber, and 64-year-old Petra Frehse, a German national.

“Throughout the week there has been reference to two possible locations for the remains. The search and rescue effort was concentrating on one residence that was identified as having the highest probability of finding the remains of the four individuals,” Moskaluk said of the search effort.

Officials said a man’s body was found near the foundation of a home that was swept away in the slide.

“Our condolences to the Webber family for their loss, and again we offer our support and condolences to the family of Petra Frehse,” Moskaluk said.

THE CANADIAN RESS/ho-Sarah JenkinsValentine Webber is shown with his daughter Rachel Webber in an undated photo. The two are among four people missing in a landslide in the tiny community of Johnson's Landing, B.C.

The B.C. Coroner’s Service has taken command of the scene and says the safety of the recovery team and a realistic chance of finding other victims are the two key issues.

Coroner’s spokeswoman Barb McLintock says an assessment is underway.

The B.C. Ministry of Forests said on the weekend that its received an email from a Johnsons Landing resident the morning of the slide.

The woman, who the ministry didn’t name, said she saw “surges of chocolate-coloured water that came down Gar Creek,” bringing down logs and debris and causing a jam.

“As soon as the log jam formed, gravel began to be deposited behind it,” she said. “The entire level of the creekbed has now been raised at least (1.8 metres) in that area.”

Hours after she sent the email, the landslide occurred.

Experts say the combination of snow melt and heavy June rains is the likely cause of the slides.

Rains hampered the search-and-rescue operation throughout the weekend.

With files from Postmedia’s Mike Hager and The Canadian Press

]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/second-b-c-landslide-cuts-off-300-campers-just-45-kilometres-from-fatal-incident-at-johnsons-landing/feed6stdWorkers build a path from the Fairmont Hot Springs Resort to the resort's RV park Monday.MudslideAerial shot of a mudslide that occurred in the resort community of Fairmont Hot Springs July 15, 2012. Valentine Webber is shown with his daughter Rachel Webber in an undated photo. The two are among four people missing in a landslide in the tiny community of Johnson's Landing, B.C. B.C. landslide rescuers find man’s body, but three women still missinghttp://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/b-c-landslide-rescuers-find-mans-body-three-women-still-missing
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/b-c-landslide-rescuers-find-mans-body-three-women-still-missing#commentsMon, 16 Jul 2012 11:49:35 +0000http://news.nationalpost.com/?p=194383

JOHNSONS LANDING, B.C. — A rescue mission in southeastern British Columbia turned into a grim recovery operation on Sunday as excavation crews unearthed the body of one of four people missing in a massive landslide.

At least three homes were crushed when a torrent of mud and debris thundered down on the tiny hamlet of Johnsons Landing on Thursday.

A search team of about 70 people had been combing through a debris field of shifting soil and rock amid a relentless rain ever since, but RCMP officials said the discovery of a man’s body appeared to crush any lingering hope of finding survivors.

The Mounties subsequently handed the operation over to the B.C. Coroner’s Service on Sunday night.

“As a result of the excavation and the work conducted…the remains of one male were recovered today from that site,” RCMP Cpl. Dan Moskaluk told The Canadian Press.

“The remains were found late this afternoon following a rapid and expansive disaster response.”

Police have identified those missing in the slide as 17-year-old and 22-year-old sisters Rachel and Diana Webber, their 60-year-old father Valentine John Webber, and 64-year-old Petra Frehse, who was a German national.

“Throughout the week there has been reference to two possible locations for the remains. The search and rescue effort was concentrating on one residence that was identified as having the highest probability of finding the remains of the four individuals,” Moskaluk said of the search effort.

Officials said that during strategic excavation work the body of a man, believed to be Valentine Webber, was found near the foundations of a home that was swept away in the slide.

Moskaluk said the families of the missing had been given the sad news.

“Our condolences to the Webber family for their loss, and again we offer our support and condolences to the family of Petra Frehse.”

A recovery effort continued for the bodies of the three women, but search and rescue teams were being pulled from the site as the operation transitioned into a coroner’s investigation.

“Searches for the remaining missing people are underway,” said Chief Coroner Lisa Lapointe, who called it a “very, very difficult time” for their loved ones.

Lapointe was at the site on Sunday and said it was “a priority to locate the deceased.”

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntoshThe swath of a landslide that buried three homes and has left four people unaccounted for in Johnsons Landing, B.C., is seen from across Kootenay Lake Saturday, July 14, 2012.

Identification specialists from the coroner’s office were at the site to assist with recovery efforts.

“The B.C. Coroner’s service will do what we can to assist in not only recovery of the remains but in investigating these deaths,” Lapointe said.

Premier Christy Clark extended her condolences to the families of the missing on Sunday night.

“I was saddened to be advised that the mission at Johnsons Landing has now been re-classified as a recovery. At times like these, it is difficult to give up hoping for a miracle,” she said in a statement.

“Communities and governments have provided every possible response to this disaster, and nature has conspired against us in many ways, even as work continues on the site.”

Clark also pledged her government’s support to the community of Johnsons Landing, which has been devastated by the slide.

THE CANADIAN RESS/ho-Sarah JenkinsValentine Webber is shown with his daughter Rachel Webber in an undated photo. The two are among four people missing in a landslide in the tiny community of Johnson's Landing, B.C.

About 70 people, including RCMP, search and rescue crews and a heavy urban search and rescue team had been conducting a grid search of the area using GPS technology and information from local residents.

Some emergency resources were diverted from Johnsons Landing to the scene of another, separate mudslide which struck Sunday near the community of Fairmount, B.C..

RCMP said that “large scale” slide closed parts of Highway 93/95 and triggered the rescue of at least one person, but there were no reported injuries.

“There’s an immediate response that is mustering for this second event,” Moskaluk said.

“There has already been one rescue via helicopter long line of some individuals at that location.”

Meanwhile, a development emerged in the analysis of the moments leading up to the Johnsons Landing mudslide even before Sunday afternoon’s discovery of a body.

The B.C. Ministry of Forests said over the weekend that it had received an email from a Johnsons Landing resident on the morning of the day the slide occurred.

In the email the woman, whose name wasn’t released by the ministry, said she noticed “surges of chocolate-coloured water that came down Gar Creek,” each bringing down a significant number of logs and debris and causing a jam.

“As soon as the log jam formed, gravel began to be deposited behind it,” she said. “The entire level of the creekbed has now been raised at least (1.8 metres) in that area.”

The woman wrote later that the whole creek was flowing over and down her driveway and made reference to a conversation with a friend, who had search and rescue experience, who told her to stay on high ground.

Hours later, the mountainside gave way.

The Canadian Press / Handout / British Columbia Ministry of Transportation and InfrastructureA landslide struck Johnsons Landing, a tiny hamlet on the shores of Kootenay Lake roughly 70 kilometres northeast of Nelson, B.C., July 13, severely damaging three homes.

Jeremy Zandbergen, executive director of the Kootenay Boundary Region, said a series of slides consisting of water-soaked soil will often lead to a larger slide being triggered.

He said the large Kootenay slide may have been triggered by a clogged creek, leading to a mass of water putting pressure on a gully until it finally burst and barreled down the hillside.

“It sure appears as though a combination of snow melt and the heavy rains — record rains — we received in June acted as a one-two punch to really elevate the soil moisture content and result in small failures which eventually caused a larger debris flow,” said Zandbergen.

“The simple (reason for the slide) is water — snow melt and rain.”

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntoshLynn Migdal, right, who now lives in Florida, returns to Kaslo, B.C., Sunday, July 15, 2012, from a tour of the landslide where her missing daughters Rachel and Diana Webber, along with her ex-husband Val Webber are feared in Johnsons Landing, B.C.

]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/b-c-landslide-rescuers-find-mans-body-three-women-still-missing/feed7stdRCMP Cpl. Dan Moskaluk, left, confirms to the media that the search has recovered a body and has now changed to a recovery operation as B.C. Chief Coroner Lisa Lapointe looks on in Kaslo, B.C., Sunday, July 15, 2012, after a landslide buried three homes and left four people unaccounted for in Johnson's Landing, B.C., last Thursday.LandslideThe swath of a landslide that buried three homes and has left four people unaccounted for in Johnsons Landing, B.C., is seen from across Kootenay Lake Saturday, July 14, 2012.Valentine Webber is shown with his daughter Rachel Webber in an undated photo. The two are among four people missing in a landslide in the tiny community of Johnson's Landing, B.C. A landslide struck Johnsons Landing, a tiny hamlet on the shores of Kootenay Lake roughly 70 kilometres northeast of Nelson, B.C., July 13, severely damaging three homes.Lynn Migdal, right, who now lives in Florida, returns to Kaslo, B.C., Sunday, July 15, 2012, from a tour of the landslide where her missing daughters Rachel and Diana Webber, along with her ex-husband Val Webber are feared in Johnsons Landing, B.C. B.C. landslide rescue crews have found the location of a buried home that could contain a family of threehttp://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/b-c-landslide-rescue-crews-have-found-the-location-of-a-buried-home-that-could-contain-a-family-of-three
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/b-c-landslide-rescue-crews-have-found-the-location-of-a-buried-home-that-could-contain-a-family-of-three#commentsSun, 15 Jul 2012 17:02:13 +0000http://news.nationalpost.com/?p=194287

KASLO, B.C. — Search and rescue crews at Johnsons Landing have located the foundation of the home where a family of three may be located, but authorities have not said when they will be able to start digging through the metres of debris to reach the house’s cellar.

Authorities said at a press conference late Saturday afternoon that the roughly 70 members on site will work until nightfall also trying to locate the other home of German retiree Petra Frehse, still fully covered over by debris so hardened it is almost immovable by shovel.

“You can’t dig through that stuff by hand,” said Whitney Numan with the Bulkley Valley Search and Rescue. “It’s dynamic, the slide situation the geotechs with the spotters are keeping an eye on any further movement… as long as it stays fairly stable it should be okay. People can walk on the debris field, it has [dried up] that much, but we don’t know how much fluid is underneath.

“So if you bring a piece of equipment in, that might cause problems.”

The survival of the Webber family, father Valentine, 60, and his two daughters, Diana, 22, and Rachel, 17, depends on whether they sought shelter in their basement and were protected from the debris Numan said.

Only one excavator is on site and road access is still blocked off to the tiny, mountainous hamlet Numan said.

Search and rescue teams resumed their dogged search for four missing Johnsons Landing late Saturday morning after geotechnical engineers deemed the debris field, which had been battered by overnight rain, safe enough to enter.

The cabin of Frehse, a 64-year-old German retiree who had summered in the lakeside community for years, was situated above the Webber’s and it is still completely covered by debris Numan said.

“We had six hours on the ground [yesterday], we made good progress,” said Fire Chief John McKearney at a Saturday morning press conference. McKearney is in charge of the Vancouver heavy urban search and rescue team heading the effort.

You can’t dig through that stuff by hand

“We’re in rescue operations right now,” McKearney said defiantly when asked about the likelihood the four could still be alive.

Forensic identification specialists will be joining the search, to take photos of the scenes and to recover evidence, said Sgt. Darryl Little, spokesman for the Kootenay Boundary Regional RCMP.

He said that it is unknown whether the Webbers and Frehse were in the same house at the time of Thursday’s slide, which ripped apart the Webber family home and sent sections of it 40 feet down the ridge and covered the cul-de-sac with up to five metres of debris.

Little said police are in constant contact with the two daughter’s mother Lynn Migdal in Florida and are trying to locate family members of Frehse via the German consulate.

Frehse has spent over ten years summering in the tiny hamlet, where she enjoys the wildlife, particularly the bears, according to landslide survivor Mandy Bath. Frehse, a retired member of the German public broadcasting company, continued coming to spend her summers at Johnsons after her husband Juergen died roughly five years ago.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations is battling accusations it sat back and did nothing after it received an email warning the government before the first massive mudslide destroyed parts of the hamlet Thursday morning.

The ministry confirmed Saturday it was sent an email by a concerned resident that morning, but it was not opened until after the slide.

Spokesman David Crebo said an email exchange between alarmed hikers that morning got forwarded to the work email of a government hydrologist who was friends with a retired government worker in Johnsons Landing.

The hydrologist was out in the field and returned to the office after the slide around 11:30 a.m. to find the email.

“If anyone has a real concern call 911,” said Crebo.

Jeff McIntosh / The Canadian PressA search and rescue helicopter lands at a rallying point across Kootenay Lake, from a landslide that buried three homes and has left four people unaccounted for in Johnsons Landing, B.C.

By Friday afternoon some residents had braved the evacuation alert to make their way back home from the nearby town of Kaslo.

Kate O’Keefe said she caught a ride across Kootenay Lake in a friend’s boat and had to negotiate a one-kilometre alluvial plain of broken pine and cedar trees that now spreads out of Gar Creek and blankets the coastline surrounding Johnsons Landing.

She struggled up a makeshift path to her home, groceries in hand to meet her partner, Harvey Armstrong, and their dog Brandy who had stayed behind. Amid the potent smell of cedar from timbers smashed by the slides, she said she didn’t believe her home was in danger.

O’Keefe said young people in the area were gathering together to support each other, fearing for 17-year-old Rachel, who had just graduated from Kaslo’s K-12 school which serves the surrounding area.

The effort followed the frantic appeals for help from the mother of the two girls.

Migdal began trying to rally searchers from her home in Florida after the first slide on Thursday. She said she feared help may come too late for her two daughters and ex-husband.

“I need hundreds of people with shovels as soon as possible, if there is any chance that my family is still breathing,” she said in a phone call Friday.

“There are three people buried alive right now, hopefully alive, deep down in one of my houses that got torn apart and twisted on its side,” Migdal said, describing the home, located about 70 kilometres northeast of Nelson, after it was engulfed by tonnes of debris late Thursday morning.

Migdal said she knew exactly where her relatives could be found under the mud.

I need hundreds of people with shovels as soon as possible, if there is any chance that my family is still breathing

“There was a phone conversation between one of my daughters and her friend,” Migdal said. “My daughter said that they were going to be sitting down to breakfast and that my ex-husband was cooking breakfast. They got off the phone and there was an avalanche.”

From that conversation, Migdal said she was sure the three people were in the kitchen of an older building on the property.

“My family was eating breakfast in the old dwelling, and that is the part that is deep down and has to be dug up.”

At 4:30 a.m. Friday morning, Migdal frantically phoned Richard Ortega, whose Johnsons Landing Retreat Centre lies on a ridge 500 metres from the slide, imploring him to go look for one of her daughters, whom she sensed was still alive.

Ortega called out each family member’s name and knocked on the half-covered windows of the home, which had been ripped in two and almost completely buried by the ferocious slide. No one answered his calls and all he said he could see was mud and debris filling the home. The Webber’s home was split in half and is partly exposed, said Ortega. But, two other homes, one belonging to Juergen, are fully covered by the massive slide.

Watching the mud and 30-metre pine and cedar trees once again pass by his house during the second slide Friday, a calm Ortega said it was a surreal experience.

Despite advice to evacuate and warnings that the ground could still shift, Ortega, who meditates regularly, said he planned to stay put. He said he believed the ridge above his house would protect his property. His wife Angele was due back this weekend from a trip to Vancouver and he said the couple would try to help their small community heal.

The Canadian Press / Handout / British Columbia Ministry of Transportation and InfrastructureA landslide struck Johnsons Landing, a tiny hamlet on the shores of Kootenay Lake roughly 70 kilometres northeast of Nelson, B.C., July 13, severely damaging three homes.

Neighbour O’Keefe also said she felt confident returning to the community.

“I’m coming back because I live here” she said, adding her home had been left untouched by the slides.

O’Keefe lives in the historic home of Algot Johnson, the Swedish miner and trapper who founded the community at the turn of the 20th Century.

“I’ve just been thinking about how Algot knew where to site his house, because we’re out of the danger zone,” she said.

Although O’Keefe said a cottage-turned-pottery studio belonging to her partner was damaged by the mud.

Central Kootenay Regional District spokesman Bill Macpherson said a public notice still stands warning curious boaters to stay away from the lakefront portion of Johnson’s Landing as more logs may come down.